Written Answers Monday 14 February 2011

Scottish Executive

Asbestos

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS buildings have been reported to it as containing asbestos.

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards have reported on the cost implications of buildings containing asbestos.

Nicola Sturgeon: This information is not held centrally. The day-to-day management of NHSScotland assets is a matter devolved to NHS boards.

  The Scottish Government Health Directorates Policy for Property and Asset Management in NHSScotland requires all NHSScotland bodies to comply with all requirements laid down by statutes bearing upon the health, safety and welfare of staff, patients and the public in relation to and in respect of the management of the property and other assets which they own or occupy in the performance of their functions.

Cancer

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it takes to (a) monitor and (b) improve the experience of the treatment and care of cancer patients.

Nicola Sturgeon: a. The measurement of patient experience is a recent development and while there is no national monitoring of the experience of cancer patients in Scotland, the first ever national GP and inpatient patient experience surveys, published in 2010, does however include the experiences of cancer patients within these two care settings. Topic reports providing differential accounts of experience by equality strand and for people living with a long-term condition, including cancer, will be published in May 2011.

  b. In order to improve the care experience of cancer patients, the Scottish Government has funded three experience-based design cancer pilots. The pilots, in NHS Lothian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, and NHS Grampian will run for three years, concluding in 2012. Each pilot comprises a number of experience based improvement projects within specific cancer services, prioritised to reflect local, regional and national priorities. As well as resulting in service-specific improvements that will improve the care experience of cancer patients, the pilots are generating transferable learning outcomes in terms of engagement methods and experience-based improvements approaches, and identifying generalisable improvements. These are being shared with other cancer services through reporting to local NHS boards and regional cancer networks, and nationally through the Living with Cancer programme and Scottish Cancer Taskforce.

Health

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its directorate general for health owns (a) land and (b) property that is deemed surplus to requirements and, if so, where the location of this is and whether there are plans for its disposal.

Nicola Sturgeon: Although held in the name of Scottish Ministers, the day-to-day management of NHS property, including disposal of surplus land and buildings, is not a matter for the Scottish Government Health Directorates as such issues are devolved to individual NHS boards to undertake following well established guidance and mandatory procedures as directed by the NHSScotland Property Transactions Handbook. Although specific to NHSScotland bodies, the guidance and mandatory procedures contained within the handbook reflect those contained within the Scottish Public Finance Manual.

Scottish Government Funding

Patrick Harvie (Glasgow) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it funds work in Scotland in the fields of conflict resolution, non-violence and cooperation; whether it has received proposals regarding a role for Scottish Churches House in this respect, and, if so, what its response is to such proposals.

Fiona Hyslop: Whilst recognising the merits of the proposal and the potential role that Scotland could play in promoting conflict resolution, non-violence and cooperation, the Scottish Government is not in a position to fund activity of the kind proposed at the current time. As a result the Scottish Government has, with regret, been unable to lend its support to the proposal relating to Scottish Churches House.